Tester says Empire Builder is in danger

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Tuesday that people need to keep an eye on long-distance passenger rail service if they want to keep it.

“There is folks back here that don’t think Amtrak should get any subsidies and they, in fact, want to close down the Empire Builder,” Tester said from Washington in a telephone press conference.

During the call, Tester, who faces Republican Montana Auditor Matt Rosendale, Libertarian Rick Breckenridge and Green Party Candidate Steve Kelly in the Senate election in November, talked Tuesday about his office’s efforts with Amtrak and his understanding of the situation, the Farm Bill and other issues.

Tester said some people don’t agree Amtrak should receive subsidies, and they want to close down the Empire Builder. Tester added that he did not want to alarm anyone, but that it was just a fact, and that he and other delegates have pushed back on and have been able to stop them from doing it.

He said he has spoken to Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson and that he has worked with him in the past when Anderson was the CEO for Delta Airlines.

Tester said that Amtrak has been shutting down ticket offices, removing ticket agents, for the past year-and-a-half, and that the company’s reason is to save money and invest it in infrastructure.

“(Anderson) told me that they had to have this money,” Tester said. “I told him that this is important. We have an elderly community in Montana, we have an aging state, and I told him that it was important that if we were going to make the Empire Builder be there (ticket agents) could be there.”

Tester added that Anderson said that they don’t have the additional funds and that they need to make cuts because they need to replace equipment.

Tester said he doesn’t agree with the decision and he has logged his complaint, but Anderson is getting pressure from both sides. Tester said he and others are telling Anderson to keep ticket offices open but Anderson is under pressure from other people who want to cut it back.

Tester said he urges the community to call the congressional delegation, himself, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, and to call Amtrak and make sure the community voices are being heard.

“I think that it can make a difference and I know they have closed the office, which makes it even more difficult to open, but nonetheless you have to make sure your voices are being heard,” Tester said. “We are going to continue to work on it. I can make no promises on this one because there are just too many folks back here that don’t want government involved.”

Tester said that in addition to passing 16 bills that President Donald Trump has signed into law in the past year, he has been working with both parties to pass a majority of appropriations bill outside of committee.

He added that he has been crossing the state to sit down with the people of Montana and discuss their concerns face-to-face and answer their questions. One of the main concerns, Tester said, is how critical the Farm Bill is for the producers in the state.

Tester said that as the Senate’s only working farmer he fully understands the importance of the Farm Bill and that he has been demanding swift action from Congress to pass a good bill and get it to the president’s desk before the end of the summer.

“Last week we took a giant step in the right direction, in that regard,” Tester said. “The Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill, where it can now be amended and voted on by the the entire Senate.”

“The Senate’s version of the farm bill does right by Montana family farmers and ranchers,” Tester added. “Especially with the threat of a looming trade war with some of our most important trading partners.”

He said the Senate’s Farm Bill protects crop insurance, strengthens the safety net, encourages conservation and invests in our rural communities. Over the past year-and-a-half, Tester said, he has been hosting public forums, listening to sessions across the state to gather feedback and hear farmers’ and ranchers’ priorities directly, wanting to give farmers and ranchers a platform to make their voices heard, he added.

The Senate’s version, Tester said, “reflects the priorities and inputs that I have heard from producers during his listening sessions.”

Tester said the bill reauthorized and keeps intact the price loss coverage insurance and keeps popular conservation stewardship programs intact as well as the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program that aids ag producers in conservation efforts.

He added that this Farm Bill will better work for Montana producers, increasing the maximum acreage of the Conservation Reserve Program, directing the United States secretary to fight the spread of foot-and-mouth disease and reauthorizing the wheat and barley scab initiative, Tester said, “which is vital to the mission at the Northern Great Plains research lab in Sidney.”

Tester added that it reauthorized critical USDA rural development grants, which are used for projects such as rebuilding and constructing water and wastewater infrastructure and expand access to high-speed internet in rural areas.

“Unfortunately, the House’s version of the Farm Bill fell far too short,” Tester said. “It’s been mucked up with politics in its current form and will not pass.”

“Now both parties must work together over the coming weeks, so we can get to a good place and so that this legislation can be signed into law and strengthen our number one industry, agriculture,” Tester said.

He said both parties worked together to pass a National Defense Authorization Act Monday night. He added that this bipartisan bill authorizes funding for our military personnel as well as national security priorities.

“We are able to use this legislation to get some good things done for our service members at Malmstrom and our National Guard,” Tester said. “We secured a pay increase for our troops and resources to make sure that they are ready for combat or any threat to this nation. … This legislation will make our military all it can be and will insure that it will have the resources they need to keep us safe.”

Tester said the bill is on its way to the president’s desk.

The Senate is voting on water projects across the country and across Montana, Tester said.

“As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee I made sure to include money for several Montana projects,” he added.

This bill contains funds for Fort Peck/Dry Prairie and Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana rural water projects, which will provide clean water across rural communities in the state, Tester said.

Tester added that they have secured sources for the Missouri River recovery program, St. Mary Diversion system and Libby Dam, as well as the Blackfeet and Crow water compacts.

“In the West, water is life,” Tester said.